


It Begins

by Ameliapll, Gypsy52



Series: Flash Swap [1]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, Apart from Eddie, Child Abandonment, Child Neglect, Eddie is Cisco, Eventual Romance, F/F, F/M, Flash Swap, Hartley is Caitlin, M/M, Mark is Barry, Multi, Oliver is Eobard, Shawna is Iris, Team Flash are the Rogues pretty much, but not at the same time, canon character death, pretty much a rewrite but also not, there are more characters but I only wanted to tag the main ones, there will be some different things
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-27
Updated: 2017-05-07
Packaged: 2018-10-09 23:30:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10424238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ameliapll/pseuds/Ameliapll, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gypsy52/pseuds/Gypsy52
Summary: "We were all struck by that lightning,"After a particle accelerator explosion, criminal Mark Mardon develops weather manipulative powers. At first, he uses them for evil, but when a team from S.T.A.R. Labs finds him, they convince him to do good instead.AU! Season one





	1. Chapter 1

You might think I'm a hero. I've taken bad guys off the street, I've stopped the city from being attacked.

I wouldn't blame you. That does sound heroic doesn't it?  
Well, what if I told you I was a petty thief?  
Or at least I was one

My name is Mark Mardon, and I am what you might call a Weather Wizard. And this is my story.

 

Mark Mardon was eleven years old when he heard the grumble of his parents car leaving the driveway. At first, he was confused: it was still dark outside and his clock read that it was 3:30 in the morning. Plus, they hadn't said goodbye to him. It was a small thing to worry about, but he was certain his parents would wake him up if they were leaving. 

And then he got excited. His birthday was coming up in the next couple of weeks, maybe they were planning a surprise party. That would explain a lot. The excited child scrambled to get ready, he wanted to please his parents after all. 

Darkness turned to day, and Mark was beginning to get anxious. His parents weren't home. When it began to grow dark again, and there were no sign of them, Mark called the police while Clyde, only six, began to bawl. 

Soon, flashing blue and red lights lit the world outside up. 

"Are you Mark?" A man asked, kneeling down to Mark's level. 

"Yeah, I am." Mark said softly. 

"My name's Officer Singh." The man, Singh, said. Mark frowned, reading his name tag, he'd thought it was obvious David Singh was a police officer, he had the badge and blue jacket on, after all. Still, it would be impolite to point this out. 

"Hi," Mark said instead. 

"Can you answer some questions for me, Mark?" David asked, in the same soft tone.

"Okay," Mark answered before answering all of David's questions.

"Shit," David sighed. Mark's eyes went wide at the curse, but he was able to regain control of himself. 

"Mark, I need you to stay here while I talk to some other police officers. Can you do that for me?" David asked, smiling when Mark nodded solemnly. 

Clyde was still crying, which annoyed Mark. Not because his baby brother was crying, but because no one was paying attention to it. He walked over to Clyde and began to soothe him. 

"Shh, Clyde, it's okay. They're gonna find mom and dad, you'll see," Mark cooed. 

"Really?" Clyde asked, eyes going wide. He immediately stopped crying. 

"Course. When am I ever wrong?" Clyde very politely didn't respond. Mark turned on the television for him and walked back to where David Singh had told him to stay.  
He overheard some conversation between officers. 

"Neglect. Either way, these children need to be put into social services," A female officer was protesting. Her badge read "Officer Baez." 

"They'll be separated!" David argued back. "Do you think it's fair to split them up when they're already confused and upset?" 

"David, no." Officer Baez groaned, burying her head in her hands. 

"Why not? They seem like good kids. You know I have enough room for them and enough time to spend with them. I live near a school, I have money. Rob loves children, he'll be great with them. If I need to, I can take all the tests and pass. You know this, Paula!" David said loudly. 

"Run the tests," Paula Baez said after a minute. "If you fail as much as one, they're going into a home." 

"Thank you, Paula." David said quietly. 

Mark couldn't help it. The stress of the day began to take its toll on him, and he began to cry. Why were they taking him away from his parents? 

Present Day

"The people involved in this murder have been revealed to be Elizabeth and Michael Mardon. Both have had a history of crime, which stopped as they abandoned their children in 2003," the woman on the news looked far too cheery. 

"Hey Tall, Dark and Handsome," Shawna Baez's voice echoed as she entered his apartment. When he failed to respond with his typical, "Hey Boo", she poked her head into the doorway, freezing almost comically as she saw what was on the television.  
She sat down next to him, wrapping her arms around him protectively. 

"Shawns, I'm fine." he mumbled, but hugged her back. 

"No, you're not. Stop being all...emotionally above it all," she whispered into his hair. 

"Impossible," he said affectionately. 

"Seriously, you know you can come to me with anything, right?" Shawna said, her dark eyes wide as she leaned back slightly, still holding his arms.

"Yeah, I do. You're my best friend, Shawna." Mark said. 

"And what would you do without me?" Shawna giggled. Mark smiled. When he was thirteen, he met Shawna for the first time. He had thought she was pretty and picked a flower for her. She instantly claimed him as her best friend. 

Now, he was older and more mature and he knew Shawna Baez wasn't just pretty. She was beautiful, inside and out. She was smart, loyal, snarky, stunning and witty. Mark had been in love with her for years, and she remained oblivious. 

"Have you talked to Dave?" Shawna asked. Mark sighed. After the accident, he'd stopped talking to David Singh and Rob. The men had good hearts and only wanted the best for them, but it hadn't worked out. 

"No,"

"Okay," Shawna said simply, not pressuring him to do anything. He would, of course, now he had the idea in his head.  
But David would never pick up the phone if he knew it was Mark. Mark was a good-for-nothing criminal, and David was a heroic cop.  
They would never have the bond they formed in childhood. 

Mark knew that he'd always have Clyde and Shawna, though. He didn't need anymore "family" apart from them. The three of them were inseperable: Clyde's out-of-control ego and fierce protectiveness; Shawna's down-to-earth sensibility and maturity; and Mark's loyalty and responsibility. Mark stared at the one picture they had of the three of them, the one personal image in the room, and his heart hurt slightly. 

The television switched from Mark's parents to the particle accelerator. 

"And as Oliver Queen's accelerator goes live, we interview the former billionaire. Oliver, why did you..."

Mark muted the television. 

"Come on. Let's go steal something pretty for you," he said, pulling Shawna up. She giggled and tugged him towards the door. 

Everything would be fine. The accelerator would go off tonight, nothing would happen and the city would laugh at Oliver Queen and his team of heroes. Mark would remain perfectly in control and not affected by the final death of his family. 

It would be fine.


	2. What happens when two friends get close?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything is going fine between Mark and Shawna, but that all changed in one night. How are they going to cope with the changes to their lives?

“Mark! Mark! _Mark!”_ Shawna let out a playful sigh as Mark finally tuned back in, but lost the teasing grin as she noticed how upset he looked. 

“What? Sorry, I must have been daydreaming” Mark was holding back tears as he looked up at Shawna from the couch he was sitting on.

Shawna flopped onto the couch and put her arm around Mark.

“I’m not _stupid_ , Mark, I know something is up. You can talk to me, you know that” Shawna lowered her head onto Mark’s shoulder.

She could hear and feel Mark crying but trying to hold back any sign of him being weak around Shawna. She would never love him if he was _weak._

“I need to get a drink, I’ll be back in a sec” Mark made himself strong enough to say that, and only that.

Mark stood up to go to the kitchen, so he could clean his face, but as he stood up, he dissolved into tears, collapsing on the floor.

Shawna sighed and grabbed Mark’s arm to drag him back onto the couch. He was a mess, an emotional, crying mess. She had never seen him so upset. Ever. 

Shawna got him some tissues and a cold face cloth to put on his face.

“Take a few deep breaths and tell me what is going on” Shawna knew that Mark hated to be weak around her, so for him to be this upset, something must have been building up inside him.

“My parents, they were–”

“It’s okay, just breath, keep going” Shawna knew that Mark needed the encouragement, to keep going.

“They made my life so much better, they loved me and Clyde, and then they just left! Do you know how many years I spent telling Clyde that he wasn’t a mistake? That _I_ wasn’t a mistake? Do you know how many times I believed it? None, Shawns. I spent my adolescence believing I was a mistake. I wanted to kill myself so much,” Mark spat it out before he started crying again. He buried his head into Shawna’s shoulder and was still crying. Shawna wrapped her arms around him and kissed his forehead.

“Marky, I know it must be hard, I have these moments as well, I grew up without my mother and believe me, it’s hard, but it will get better. I promise you,” Shawna felt as though she was about on the verge of tears herself from Mark’s confession.

“What if we invite Clyde over for dinner one night? You boys can sit down and talk about what you’re feeling or whatever shit helps you,” Shawna knew how much Mark loved his brother, he knew that he could help Mark at a time like this.

Mark had no words, he was still crying. He still had his head buried in Shawna’s shoulder, but Shawna could feel that Mark nodded his head.

“Alright, well, it is getting late, so why don’t we get you all cleaned up and get you into bed?” Shawna had to take his mind off what he was feeling, and she knew exactly how to do that.

Mark got himself into bed, while Shawna got him a cup of tea. As Shawna was making the cup of tea, she could hear Mark still crying, still grieving the monsters that hurt him, and knew that she had to do something about this as soon as she could. She couldn’t have Mark crying himself to sleep. It would devastate her. She took the cup of tea up to the bedroom, gave it to Mark, and kissed him on the head again.

She had moved in with Mark at 20, even though they were platonic, and she never regretted it. Mark was her best friend, her lifeline, and she knew it was her turn to be his.

“Everything is going to be ok,” Shawna whispered to him and went back to the kitchen.

She got her phone out and rang Clyde.

“Hey, Shawna, what’s up? I haven’t heard from you in a while,” Clyde sounded very cheery for once and Shawna felt bad on the inside for having to be the one to take that away from him.

“It’s Mark, he–” Shawna couldn’t quite find the words to tell him, but Clyde knew.

“Shawna, it’s alright, I’ll be around in about 10 minutes”

“Thank you so much, Clyde.”

“No worries, see you soon,”

Clyde hung up the phone and Shawna stood there, knowing that the next best thing to her was coming. She thought it was only 30 seconds, but the next thing she heard was a knock at the door.

It was Clyde.

“Clyde, I’m so glad you’re here, he’s in the bedroom. I’ll let you two talk”

Clyde walked off to the bedroom and Shawna lied on the couch and went to sleep.

 

Clyde walked back into the lounge where Shawna was asleep. He softly shook her awake, sitting down next to her.

“How did it go? Is he ok?” Shawna asked mid-yawn.

“Yeah, he just went to sleep. He isn’t crying or upset anymore. We had a long talk about our parents and how finding their body’s made us feel. We’re also probably going to rob the Central City bank in a few weeks.” Clyde noticed Shawna’s raised eyebrow and widened his eyes innocently.

“It was his idea! I only have his best interests at heart, Shawna!”

“Right, I’m so sure.” Shawna smiled sweetly.

“We also talked about how we can go about him not being like this again and he said that he would talk to someone, whenever it gets overwhelming. I haven’t told him this but I just need you to help him to remember, just remind him every few days or so. Can you do that?”

“Of course I can. Anything for the happiness of my Marky,” Shawna was happier than what she had been all night.

“Awesome, well, I have an early start tomorrow, so I had better go. Thank you for calling me, I think that it helped me as well, just to get any feelings off of my chest.” Clyde looked very relieved as he relaxed.

“No worries, you just get home and get some rest,” Shawna said as she hugged him and walked him out the door.

Shawna got ready for bed and climbed into bed next to Mark, just to make sure that he slept through the night and didn’t wake up stressed.

 

Shawna was the first one awake the next day and as she rolled over, she forgot that Mark was in the bed.

She let out an alarmed shriek, which also woke Mark up in a hurry. Shawna fell off of the bed and Mark got up and ran to the other side of the bed to help her up.

“Oh my god, Shawna, are you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just forgot that I got in the bed next to you. I wanted to make sure that you were okay after last night.”

“Yeah, I’m good now. Clyde helped me a lot, being the older brother, I know I’m supposed to be strong and be the role model, but it is good to know that Clyde is there for me.”

“That’s good, I’m glad that you found it helpful. I knew that it would work. I called him after I left you with your cup of tea. He did mention what you guys talked about and he said that he got you to start talking to someone?”

“Yeah, I’ll probably try doing something every 2 or 3 days. He said that he did it for a while and that is helped him a lot. I’ll give it a try and see how I go.”

“That’s good, I’m glad that he could help. Let me know if I can help you with anything and you can talk to me.”

“Thanks, Shawna, it means a lot to me.”

Mark helped Shawna off the floor and gave her a hug and kissed her on the head.

They both walked out to the lounge room and put the TV on to catch up on the news.

“So, what do you want to do today?” Shawna asked while she flicked through the TV guide.

“I was thinking that we could maybe go for a walk on the beach and maybe have some fish and chips or something on the beach. I need to get out of the house for a while” Mark looked at Shawna with the puppy dog eyes that he knows he can get away with.

“...Okay, fine. Let’s go and get ready,” Shawna eventually gave in.

They got in the car and went to the beach. They walked on the beach and talked about the good times and the memories that they had from when they were younger.

They went to the fish and chip shop and had lunch on the beach. They talked about what they plan for the future and possible future heists that they can do. Of course talking very quietly, especially since there _could_ be police around.

They enjoyed the beach so much, they fell asleep for about an hour and a phone call from Clyde woke Mark up. They had the phone call and it was over in about 3 minutes.

“Who was that on the phone?”

“It was Clyde. He was just ringing to see how I was after last night,”

“That’s nice of him. We better get going, it’s getting late and I am very tired, as you are I’m sure.”

“Ok, let’s go.”

They packed up their things and headed off to the car.

“I had fun today. It was good to get out of the house and relax a bit.” Shawna was very happy that she wasn’t stuck in the house all day.

“Well, it was my idea, so of course it was good. Not to be modest or anything,” Mark said as they were getting in the car.

All the way back home, they sang along to all their favourite songs on the radio.

Once they got back home, they got inside and got a cup of tea and coffee and just sat on the couch for about half an hour.

A loud bang scared both of them and Mark was the one that got up and went outside to see what happened. Shawna went out as well and she saw an orange glow in the distance.

“Mark, get inside. I don’t like the look of this.” Shawna was now generally concerned about Mark because he isn’t listening and not going inside.

“No, no, it’s ok. I just want to see what it is.”

They saw an orange wall of light spreading across the city and lightning bolts striking various buildings. As the wall of light got closer, Shawna tried to get Mark to come inside, but he wouldn’t move. Shawna was scared for her life, so she ran inside and was forced to look out of the window in the door to see the wall of orange light hit Mark and fuse through him like he wasn’t even there. He was then struck by a bolt of lightning created by the wall of light.

Once the wall of light had gone. Shawna ran outside in tears.

“MARK! Oh my god. Mark, are you okay. Can you hear me!?”

She ran back inside and called an ambulance.

The ambulance turned up about 3 minutes later and took him to the hospital. Shawna barged her way into the ambulance because she had to be with Mark, no matter what happened.

They got to the hospital and they took him into the operating theatre. Shawna had to be there, next to him, but she got dragged away by a nurse.

“Sorry, Ma’am, you have to stay over here,” Said the nurse dragging her away from Mark.

“I’m family!” Shawna cried as she was dragged back in tears.

All she could do was sit in the chair and cry helplessly.


	3. 3

Mark could hear fuzzy voices in the background. His entire body hurt, but it was the kind of hurt where nothing and everything hurt.

Music began to play in the background. He vaguely recognised the song, it was one of Shawna’s favourites. At the thought of Shawna, he sat up with a gasp.

“Oh, my God!” A young blonde man gasped, nudging the other man, a distinctly shorter brunette with glasses.

“Well, well, well, the potato lives...” the man smirked, before shining lights in Mark’s eyes.

“Who are you people!?” he demanded, easily batting the man’s torch away.

“Hart. Chill. My name’s Eddie Thawne, and I’m a police detective working for S.T.A.R labs after the explosion. This is Hart Rat-“

“ _Doctor_ Hart _ley_ Rathaway,” the short man corrected, rolling his eyes before sticking out a tube. “I need you to urinate in this,”

“ _Hartley,_ let the poor man wake up.” Hartley rolled his eyes, for maybe the third time since Mark had woken up.

He was beginning to wonder if his eyes wouldn’t perpetually stay that way.

“Where am I?” Thunder cracked in the distance, causing Hartley to flinch slightly. Eddie glanced at him, gaze both concerned and protective.

“S.T.A.R. labs,” Eddie replied.

“We need to run some more tests, just to make sure you’re completely okay before you go,” Hartley recovered quickly, leaning over Mark to grab a cup. “Eddie, get Queen.” As Hartley retracted his arm, the sleeve of his shirt rode down slightly, just enough so that Mark caught the briefest glimpse of a puckered black wound.

“Look, I’m _fine,_ I’m seriously 100%, I need to go,” Mark rambled, getting off the bed and headed towards the door.

“Be as that might be, Mr. Mardon, Hartley’s right,” Oliver Queen said, amused from the other doorway. Hartley let out a self-righteous huffing noise.

“...Okay,” Mark reluctantly agreed, sitting back down.

 “So what happened to me?” Mark asked, pulling his shirt back on.

“You got struck by lightning. Your girlfriend called an ambulance.” Oliver Queen told him.

“What? I don’t have a girlfriend.” Mark furrowed his eyebrows, confused.

“Shawna Baez?” Hartley questioned, taking off his stethoscope and raising an eyebrow. “She talks a lot. But she’s nice, I guess.”

 “Shawna’s not my girlfriend,” Mark mumbled. Oliver’s lips twitched.

“My mistake.”

“What else?” Mark asked, trying to twitch off the odd feeling Oliver’s words left on him.

“You’ve been in a coma for nine months.” Hartley said, blunt. Mark felt his world fall back.

“ _Nine months?!_ Shawna must be out of her mind with worry, I need to go!” Mark exclaimed, tumbling off the bed and sprinting to the door.

“Forreal?” Eddie complained.

“That’s men for you,” Hartley scoffed, rolling his eyes, but smiling softly as Eddie gently bumped him.

“He’ll be back,” Oliver mused, smirking towards the door.

Shawna froze as she heard the front door creak open. Grabbing a candlestick, she raised it in the air and prepared to knock the person out.

“Shawna?” She froze, she knew that voice. Setting the candle down, she walked out of the kitchen. Mark was standing there. _Alive._

She heard a sob, felt her throat contract, and realised it was her. He whirled around, relief apparent on his face.

“Why are you crying?”

And then she launched forwards, throwing herself into him, and feeling his arms circle her waist.

“Thank God you’re alive, thank _God_ you’re alive.” Shawna heard herself whispering into his neck as he gently spun her around and then put her down.

“I’m right here, Shawns, I’ve always been here.” He said. “Speaking of, where’s Clyde.”

“Mark...” Shawna said, looking down as tears filled her eyes for the umpteenth time this week. How could she tell him?

“Should I call him? The three of us need to do something,” Mark said.

“Mark, I’m so sorry.” Shawna tried to say, but the words came out strangled.

“Why’re you sorry?” Mark asked, before it hit him.

“Clyde...someone killed him.”

“No, they didn’t.” Mark said slowly.

“I’m so sorry Mark, I’m so sorry.” Shawna began to sob, “I wish I was being nasty or teasing you or whatever, but I’m not.”

Mark thought of his baby brother, and fell to his knees in pain. _Clyde can’t be dead. He can’t be, I still need him._

 _I need him, I need him ineedhim._ Rain fell outside. As it crashed on the windows, Shawna jumped slightly.

“I’m sorry, Mark, I’m so sorry,” she repeated, unsure of what to say.

“Who did it?” Mark growled.

“No one knows. I called the CCPD, anonymously, and they said they’d look into it, but it’s been...”

“How. Long?”

“Two months,” Shawna said softly, biting her lip and looking down.

Mark swore, pushing himself up and slamming his fist into the wall.

“How did you know?” he asked, his voice thick with tears.

“I went to his house,” Shawna said, feeling nauseous as she remembered what site awaited her at Clyde’s house. “He wasn’t picking up his phone, so I went to his house. There was so much blood. I couldn’t even tell where the body was. Then I saw it.”

She let in a shuddering sob, shoulders shaking as she remembered. “There was...a refrigerator. Or some metal box. Under it...I could see Clyde’s jacket, Mark. The one you got him,”

“You were there,” Mark murmured, walking over to her. She flinched, expecting him to punch her the way he punched the wall.

Mark had never gotten this angry or upset around her, and she had no idea what to expect. Sure, Clyde had told her with wide eyes the stories about Mark’s emotions and how out of control they could get.

 _Like a storm,_ he’d said. Shawna winced at the thought of Clyde.

 

But Mark’s arms went around her instead, this time not in happiness or relief, but in the comfort that came from two people mourning a loved one.

 

The kind of pain you never get over.

 


End file.
